Bad idea for a newbie? Whyte 19 alloy vs Whyte t-120

leemkule

A couple of months back my girlfriend got a bike for uni and I had a go messing about on it and I found myself desperate to go out on it more and more (a 17 inch frame, bit small for my 6'1 body, but it was a lot of fun). She just uses this for commuting to university and it's a very cheap bike from the local store.

Initially I was going to buy something like a Whyte Portobello just to cruise about town and go to university but then I realised it was a lot of money to spend on a bike that wouldn't be that great off road. I went out with some friends mountain biking and I really feel like I've got a bit of the 'biking bug' cause I absolutely loved it!

Anyway, I was looking for some recommendations, I'm not interested in a full out road bike and I'd really like a bike that I can do some proper mountain biking on but that I could also jump down the road (only like 2 or so miles) to uni or my girlfriends house. I went to the shop and checked out the Whyte 19 alloy and the t-120 and I really liked both of them. So I'm asking for peoples opinion on these bikes and whether or not it would be a sensible purchase for someone who is essentially very much a beginner but would like a bike to cover two desires, commuting to uni and getting into off roading.

My girlfriend seems to think I'm insane to consider spending so much money on a bike as she thinks it'll get stolen at uni. Thoughts?

Please be gentle if this post seems ridiculous, I'm a total noob.

386ka

Can you provide link for the spec's or provide them yourself?

leemkule

Yes, sure, here are the specs:

t120 - http://www.whytebikes.com/2012/bike_pag ... W-1-003-12

19 alloy - http://www.whytebikes.com/2012/bike_pag ... W-1-010-12

Scroll down a bit on each page for the specs.

nation

To be totally honest, I would not ride a bike worth over a grand to uni/for errands unless there was somewhere very secure to lock it.

If you're spending that amount of cash you'd be better off picking up a beater bike in addition to your mountain bike (for riding two miles it doesn't really matter what you get) and use that for the errands. It also means that you don't have to compromise your mountain bike for road use (knobbly tyres are no fun at all on the road).

tom_howard

£2000 is a lot of money for anyone to spend on a bike, let alone a student buying a first bike. id suggest, if your heart is set on it, spending your cash on a lower specced bike with a good frame that can be upgraded over time, as your skills (and hopefully) knowledge improves. there are tons of bikes around the £750-£1000 mark that would fit the bill (check out this months MBUK IIRC).

386ka

I would suggest that you buy 2 bicycles, one for commuting, and one for mountain biking. If you can afford that, anyways. You can lock the commuter almost anywhere, but the MTB should always be with you, and in your sight when you are out somewhere with it.

At least that's the way thing work in my country.

leemkule

thanks for the replies guys. I guess you are right, it's just that my apartment this year is very small, I only really have room for one bike in here as my girlfriend often leaves her bike here too, it's only a one bed apartment so it would end up that there would be 3 bikes here. Hmph, damn thieves spoil everything!